1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to distinct counting and, more specifically but not exclusively, to network-traffic monitoring based on adaptive distinct counting.
2. Description of the Related Art
This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the invention(s). Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of computers and/or network appliances operatively connected to one another via optical, wireline, and/or wireless links. A modern network might have a complicated topology and span a relatively large logical or geographical area, such as a university campus, a city neighborhood, or the collection of different sites of a multi-national corporation. Networking facilitates communications between users, e.g., via e-mail, instant messaging, telephony, and video-conferencing. Networking also enables various nodes of the network to share hardware, software, and data.
Network management is the process of planning, securing, engineering, and operating a network to enable its essential functions while reducing the risks of network failure, data loss, and/or security compromises. Network management generally includes the task of network-traffic monitoring, which is important, e.g., for proper allocation of resources and control of traffic flows. A network-traffic flow is a stream of data packets that share certain common characteristics, such as source and destination IP addresses. Network-traffic flows may need to be controlled, e.g., to meet quality-of-service (QoS) specifications and/or to prevent malicious processes from encumbering proper operation of the network.